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Joe Burrow is a truly gifted quarterback. He has a National Championship, title game Offensive MVP and Heisman Trophy to his name from his time at LSU, and he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020. Burrow helped the Bengals make the Super Bowl in 2021, and he’s been part of their potent offense.
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But the talented footballer is also a savvy chess player. Through a partnership with Chrome, Burrow got a chance to dip into his creative side and his love for chess to design his own set. For The Win had a chance to interview Burrow about his hobby, its impact on his football game and why he wanted to participate in this collaboration.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You’ve been described as a lifelong chess player. How young were you when you started, and what has your journey been like with chess?
I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but it was in elementary school for sure. Indoor recess when it was raining outside, I would start playing. I didn’t play too much when I was younger. I don’t remember exactly when Chess.com became a thing, but I wasn’t playing online like that when I was younger. During COVID, I started really getting into openings and lines and actually how to play.
Who taught you how to play?
A friend taught me to play, and then we just we would just play. I don’t remember playing with my family ever. Really, I don’t think they even know how to play.
Do you still play online? Do people know it’s you?
I do, and they do. They didn’t for a while, and then when we went to the Super Bowl in 2021, my my username got leaked. I play a lot during the season because you have like a 10 minute break in between meetings, and I can sit there, or I can play a game of chess. My hours got leaked, and that was that wasn’t good for me at the time.
Is it a relaxation thing? Do you think it’s a keep your mind sharp thing? A combination? How do you approach your chess time now?
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Yeah, it’s a combination of everything. During the season, I don’t really have social media too much, and I’m not a huge reader. I’ll read articles and and papers and whatnot, but I’m not super into books that much. So, just playing a lot of chess. It’s kind of all the above — keep your mind sharp, relax, and something fun to do with limited time that you have.
Do you think playing chess has made you a better football player?
Has it made me a better football player? I don’t know about that. The mental strategies are certainly similar as far as predicting, analyzing what your opponent is trying to do and counteracting that and finding the right balance between defense and attack. There’s a lot of similarities in the mental strategies.
When you were approached about this project, how excited were you to do something more out of the box? To not only lean into and talk about your love for chess, but the the design portion of the collaboration?
It was. I don’t get excited about these kinds of things too often, and this was one that I was genuinely excited about, not only the chess portion, but the unique nature of the project. Designing it with Chrome and playing a grandmaster, all those things were were pretty exciting for me, and it was just a unique opportunity that came along and was something that I was very excited to do.
What did you use for your inspiration for the design?
All the crystals I have in my house.
Where are you going to display it? Do you have do you have a spot picked out?
It’s on my coffee table at the moment. My family was in town last week for a game, but my second cousin recognized one of the crystals because he had just done a a project at school about that specific crystal, and he pointed it out. I thought that was kind of cool.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Q&A: Joe Burrow on his passion for chess and designing his own set
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Reporting by Caroline Darney, For The Win / For The Win
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 4:36 AM.